Supporting surface for mattresses, cushions, and the like



My 23,. 1939- w. H. CHAPMAN SUPPORTING SURFACE FOR HATTRESSES. CUSHION S. AI I D RIB LIKE 1 Filed larch23. .1938

5 Sheets-Sheet 1 J mvmox Wuwco [Zr/var C'mnouu ATTORNEY.

May 23, 1939. w. H. q-mpwm v 2,159,520

SUPPORTING SURFACE FOR MATTRESSES, CUSHIONS, AND THE LIKE Filed larch 23, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 2 minim mvmbn y 23,. 1939- w. H.. CHAPMAN 2,159,520

} SiJPPORTING SURFACE'FOR MATTRE SSES, vGUSHIONS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 23, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 3 v I INVENTOR. Y M4 FREDHE/VRVCf/APMAM mw gm'ronun.

y 23, 1939- w. H. CHAPMAN ,520

SUPPORTING SURFACE FOR MATTRESSES, CUSHIONS, ND THE LIKE Filed larch 2:, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 4 f F E :11. d2

INVEN'fOR. BYmLFRED [IE/WW CHAPMAN.

M y' w) CHAPMAN 2,159,520

SUPPORTING SURFACE FUR MATTRESSES, CUSHIONS, AND THE LIKE Filed March 23, 1938 5 Sheets-Sheet 5 1Q.

INVENTOR.

m1. FRED HENRY CHA PMA/V. BY

ATTORNEY Patented May 23, 1939 PATENT OFFICE SUPPORTING SURFACE FOR MATTRESSES. CUSHIONS, AND THE LIKE Wilfred Henry Chapman, ham, England, assignor Stechford, Birmingto Dunlop Tire and Rubber Corporation, Buflalo, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application March 23, 1938, Serial No. 197,550

- In Great Britain January 27, 1937 10 Claims.

My invention relates to supporting surfaces for resilient cushions, mattresses. and upholstery,

such as that for a couch, divan, bed, chairs, and other furniture; as also for vehicles. More particularly it relates to a base or support having a cavity or well, or in the case of a seat, a number of cavities or wells one for each seat area into which the cushion fits.

The invention provides supporting surfaces'in a base or foundation of this type which gives enhanced stability and a control or predisposition in the seat or cushion to deflection'under load.

.This control or predisposition tends to guide and maintain the distribution of the load in a posi- 16 tion of maximum comfort for the particular design of the seat or cushion. It also provides a cushion support in which the amount of cushion material may be reduced to a minimum for a given cushioning effect.

The invention may be applied to cushions or upholstery of any suitable type as, for example, to upholstery formed wholly or in part of springs, but is more particularly suited and best adapted as a support for molded cushions of porous or 5 cellular rubber as, for example, foamed latex rubber.

'According to this invention in a surface for sitting and reclining upon, an understructure or supporting base or foundation of rigid, substan- 30 tially rigid, or semirigid material such as wood or sheet metal, comprises or embodies a well part wherein a ledge or platform or a plurality there-, of is or are provided intermediate the upper and lower surfaces of said well part and adaptedand 5 arranged to co-operate with the bottom of the well in receiving and supporting the load transmitted by or through the upholstery or filling.

' The well part may have side walls or a side wall some part of which descends to the well tion providing the ledges or platforms. The side walls or the part of the side wall of the well part not of stepped'formation may be so arranged that there is a descent to the well depth either 5 abruptly or by a gradual or uniform slope inwardly of the construction from top to bottom of the well.

The bottom of the well part or the ledges or both may be flat or curved or may present angularly disposed surfaces or may be in a plane or planes at an angle to that containing the upper surface of the understructure.

A seat pan may have the well part locatedat the central rear of the pan, the walls of the well a front and rear sloping inwardly of the pan from depth in stepped formation such stepped formaprovide a double seat such as the rear seat in the top to the bottom of the Welland the walls of the well at both sides of the pan descending to the well depth in stepped formation each wall presenting one or more flat ledges or platforms in a plane parallel or substantially parallel to that containing the flat 'well base. The sheet metal or wood or an area of the sheet metal or wood of which the base or foundation is made may have a series of perforations spaced thereover and these perforations may be spaced to coincide or co-operate with'the cavities in sponge rubber upholstery shaped and adapted to be accommodated in the well part.

A feature according to the present invention, 1. e. the provision of ledges or platforms intermediate the upper and lower surfaces of a well formation may be provided by a construction where instead of the sides of the well continuing from the upper surface to the lower surface in stepped formation to provide the ledges or platforms, the latter may be provided by a strip or strips supported or suspended in position from the frame of the construction thus leaving the sides or certain sides of the well formation with vertically disposed gaps as between the upper surface, ledge or platform andthe lower surface. Such a construction while not impairing the utility of the seat, etc., may be advantageous) particularly under certain. conditions such as where the upholstery filling. is a molded cellular or sponge rubber structure.

More than one well part constructed in accordance with this invention may be provided inone article of furniture, as for instance in a seat having an upholstered back support or what is termed a back squab, one well part 'for the seat cushion and one well'part for a back squab and these of course may be duplicated in a seat for two or more'persons such as is provided in a motor or railway car or coach, etc.

The stepped formation in the walls or parts of the wall of the well part may be arranged in opposite sides thereof so that in connection with a seat cushion or back squab the stepped formation is at either side and in bed mattress may be longitudinal thereof:

The well formation of whateverform in accordance with this invention may be embodied to a motor car or like vehicle and whether an initial well formation of suitable size and shape is centrally dividedv into two seat wells by one or more ledges or platforms or whether an equivalent arrangement is achieved by the association of two initially independently formed well structures, such an arrangement where the understructure of the seating is definitely raised to provide a bridge as it were, isparticularly advantageous inthat it appreciably facilitates a desirable co-operation in the assembly of the seating in relation to other parts of the general chassistarrangement whereby for instance, accommodation for the transmission gear is provided.

In the application of the present invention to a bed construction one embodiment may comprise that which is sometimes referred to as an lustrated by way of example in the accompanying drawings in which Fig. 1 is a side elevation of an upholstery cushion embodying a preferred form of my'invention. Fig; 2 is a plan 'view of the cushion shown in Fig. 1 with half of the resilient upholstery removed to show the supporting structure. Fig. 3 is a section on the line. 3-4 of .Fig. 1 showing the resilient upholstery material half removed. Fig. 4 is a perspective view of the supporting structure of the upholstery cushion of Figs'l, 2 and 3. Fig. 5 is aplan view of -a suptively thereof.

porting structure for the resilient upholstery embodying another modification of my invention. Fig. 6 is a vertical section of the structure of Fig. 5', taken on the line 6--6 thereof. Fig. 7 is a perspective viewof another form of embodiment of the supporting structure-of my invention. Fig. 8 is a side elevation of aseat and back cushion embodying another modification of my invention. Figs. 9 and 10 are sections through the structure of Fig. 8 taken on lines 99 and l|0 respec- Fig. 11 is a plan-view of another modification of my invention, half of the resilient upholstery material being removed to show the supporting structure. Fig. 12 is a sideview with parts broken away of the construction shown in Fig. 11. Fig. 13 is a longitudinalvertical view of the structure of Fig. 11 with parts'shown displaced upwardly to show the manner of mountingthe resilient upholstery material on the'supporting structure. Fig. 14 is a side view of another modification of my invention. Fig. 15' is a vertical section. of the structure of Fig. 14"taken "'on the line ll5 thereof, a part of the resilient cushion material being removed toshow the supporting structure, and Figs 16 and 17 are respectively a plan and vertical section of another modification of my invention.

Referring to the drawings the understructure or support base or foundation in its preferred form comprises a comparatively thin sheet metal seat pan 0. which in some cases is illustrated as carried on a wood frame I). I

The sides 0 of the pan a descend to a well depth in a stepped formation whereby there is provided ledges or platforms d one at each side of the pan, and located intermediate the upper surface and the bottom of the well, or approximately midway of the depth of the well.

The sides e of the pan a descend to a well depth usually-by a fiat slope inwardly of the construc tion from top to bottom of the well.

In the construction illustrated in Fig. 5, the

wall e at the back of the pan descends to the well depth abruptly or vertically and without any slope.

The flat bottom of the well is in the constructions illustrated in Figs. 1 to 6 in a plane at an angle to that containing the top of the pan so that the depth of 'the well at this point decreases slightly from front to rear of the seat and the ledges or platforms (1 are shown flat and at a slight angle to the upper surface of the pan and in Fig. 14 the bottom of the well and the ledges or platforms d are in planes curved with respect to that containing the upper surface of the construction which in this latter case is a support base or foundation for a bed mattress.

In most of the constructions illustrated the sides or walls 0 of the pan or base support descend vertically between the upper surface, the ledges or platforms d and the bottom of the well,

"but in Figs. 5 and 6 there is shown a construction where these sides *0 also slope inwardly of the pan.

In all cases where a single seat pan is illustrated the well is shown as located at the central rear of the pan. The combination of a cavitied cushion ,f, i. e. the intersecting ribs f forming the cavity walls are supported on the fiat side sponge rubber seat cushion with a seat pan in g ledges or platforms 11, Figs. 3, 6, 9, 10, 13 and 15,

while'again others of the ribs f are supported on the front sloping walls e of the well part, Figs. 4, 5, 7.

Perforations g in" the sheet metal of the base support are shown in the construction illustrated in Fig. 4 and as shown. these perforations are arranged to coincide with the cavities in the sponge rubber cushion f whereby an inflow and egressof air into and from the cushion is arranged for and controlled.

In'Fig. 7 instead of the sides of the well continuing from the upper surface to. the lower surface or well bottom in stepped formation to pro vide the ledges or platforms d, the latter are provided by strips of metal (1 supported or suspended in position from the frame of the construction thus leaving vertically disposed gaps d between the upper surface, ledge or platform 02 and the lower surface or bottom of the well.

Figs. 8, 9 and 10 illustrate a typical construction where both the seat pan a and its back squab h are provided with a well part in accord" with this invention. The seat pan is as has already been described but the well part and ledges or platforms d in the back s'quab it while presenting a cross-section, Fig. 10, similar in principle to that of the seat pan, extend com- 1 pletely throughout the back squab h from top to rangement and in particular the transmission gear of the car.

An adaptation of the invention to provide a one-sideofsaidopeningbetween said'bottomand.

.constructionfor 'use in connection with ya mattress-is illustrated at Figs. =14 and 15, the ledges or platforms d extending longitudinally of bed the understructure or support base or foundation, there being three ledges or platforms d along each side, see particularly Fig. 15.

I It will be -noted thatin this construction the bottom of the well and the ledges or platforms d follow a curved path in their longitudinal direction, Fig. 14.

In the construction illustrated in Figs. 14- and 15 the cavitied sponge rubber 1 is the onlyupholstery filling employed being supported directly fromthe under-structure including the well, part and ledges or platforms d, see Fig. 15. In the construction shown in Fig.15 the upholstery filling comprises an .upper layer of cavitled sponge rubber {extending into the well to a depth level with the ledges or platforms it formed by the first step down of the well formation and the remainder of the upholstery filling for the remainder of the well part consists of the usual upholstery springs i, cooperation between these springs and the cavitied sponge rubber filling f being accomplished in manneralready familiarto manufacturers.

The well part of. an understructure or support base or foundation may in accordance with this invention have a ledge or platform, orv more than one ledge or platform. extending on all sides and a simple illustration of this is contained in Figs. loand 17 where a circular seat is shown with 'a ledge or platform d, Fig. l'l, lu combination with an upholstery of.cavitied sponge In all constructions within the scope-of this 'inv'ention it will be appreciated that in reducing. the area of the well the ledges or platforms effect an economy in the quantity of upholstery filling required Furthermore. it will be app e iated-that as compared with the depth of upholstery filling in the well. the depth of the upholstery atthe parts seating on the ledges or platforms may be consequently reduced so that with the imposition of a load the latter is supported more firmly by the upholstery over the ledges or platforms and is akilledintheartwithoutdcpartingfromthein thus positioned correctly and comfortable-stability is imparted in conjunction with the deeper.-

cushioningeifectof-theweil;

Various modifications may-be made bythos'e nation as defined in the following claims.

whatfclaimisz' 1. An article of the type described which comprisesasupportingbasehavinganupperuphdstery supporting surface provided with an -opening,alowerupholsterysupportingsurface below said'opening and an upholstery supporting ledge forming an intermediate surface on'at least saidupper' surfaceandaresiiientcushionstruc tureextendingoverand-supportedonallofsaid mfaces.saidcmhionbeihgthickerabove said :bottomandintermediatesurfacesto'eitendintolike having an upper upholstery supporting surface provided with a well opening. a bottom upholstery supporting surface below said .opening, and stepped sidewalls forming upholstery supporting'ledges between said upper and said bottom surface.

3. A supporting base for upholstery and the like having an'upper upholstery supporting surface provided with a well opening, a. bottom .uphol- -stery supporting surface below said opening.

stepped side walls for'ming upholstery supporting ledges between said upper and said bottom surface, and an upholstery structure of resilient ma.-

terial extending over saldupper-surface and said well opening and being of increased depth over said well opening to extend downwardly to and be supported on said bottom and said ledge surfaces. 4. The structure of claim 3 in which said upholstery structure is of molded cellular rubber.

5. The structure-of claim 3 in which said upholstery structure isof molded cellular rubber and in which the part extending into said well opening is of coiled springs.

with a well at the back part 'of the central seating area, said well having a bottom-surface and surfaces sloping from the front and back downwardly to said bottom surface and side walls of stepped construction toform ledge supporting surfaces I intermediate said top and said bottom surfaces.

and a cushion of resilient material mounted on said upper suppcrting surface and extending downwardly into said well and supported on sai bottom and said ledge surfaces. 1

8. Thestructure ofclaim'linwhichtheledge surface has a'forward 'part sloping upwardly toward the front of said well.

9. An upholstery assembly which comprises a base having. an upper holstery supporting surface provided with a well opening therein and upholstery supporting strips extending downwardly from said upper upholstery supporting surface in said well opening to form a lowermost supporting surface and intermediate upholstery supporting 1 surfaces extending downwardly from said upper supporting surface between said lowermost and said upper supportingsurfaces.

. 10. An upholstery base comprising a member havinganuppersupportingrimandadepressed portion providing axwell. said depressed portion havingabottomwallandatleastonesidewall stepped to provide a support intermediate in height betweensaidbottomandsaid'uppersupportingrim. 

